Communist Mazzola Man Fantasies

I am always amazed at the cartoonish image of Indians promoted by Communists who have likely never met one outside their cloistered life. This image is an arrogant repackaging of the noble savage myth.

Myth number one is that all cultural practices are mere variants. Thus practices of some tribes including slavery, human sacrifice and torture of POWs are cultural variants. The notion that Indians were communing with nature is more Mazzola than real. Survival was a tough task that required back breaking work. In many ways our perception of what Indians were is colored by our own biases more than their lives. In short Indians were themselves and we should not try to define them in their own terms.

Myth number two Indians hate Christians. This must come as a surprise to the Indians themselves who are often very devout Christians. Obviously these Indians do not know their
own thoughts as well as outsiders who study them from textbooks.

Myth number 3 Missionaries tell people what to think and do. This is amusing especially when these comments come from people who want to play God themselves. Herding people onto collectives, stealing property and running repressive totalitarian states like Cuba and North Korea must be inconvenient facts.